I wondered if anyone could guide me as to my comsumer rights.
On monday I took delivery of a brand new Stiga 740pwx. After only four hours use problems developed. Firstly, the hydraulic oil expanded right up to the filler cap and started to leak through the pin hole breather in the cap. At the same time the power steering became very notchy. I took it back to the dealer and they spoke to Stiga. It was thought that the hydraulic oil level was too high to start with and therefore not allowing enough heat exspansion space in the tank. Some oil was removed, lowereing the oild to the 'cold' level to where it should have been in the first place. All seemed well at the dealers. The following day after ten minutes mowing, the power steering became notchy again. The oil level this time was okay, no problems.Stiga have said they are sending a new power steering pump to be fitted by the dealer inclusing a complete hydraulic oil change.Stiga think it is a faulty oil return valve in the power steering pump.
The point is, I am worried about possible ongoing problems and would prefer to reject the machine under the faulty goods act. Can I do this? If so can I insist that this happens? Any tecnical advice either mechanical or legal would be much appreciated.
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i think you have to give them the oppotunaty to repair it first if the problem persists then you can reject it either for a refund or replasement
Parts such as hydraulic pumps and valve will be bought in by Stiga, rather than manufactured by them.
If the machine is well designed with few problems reported put it down to a faulty part, can happen to any company. Let them repair it and if it runs ok all good, if not reject it.
The sale of goods act gives a huge amounts of rights to purchases made by individuals but virtually none to purchases made by a business including sole traders, as such you are really left with going by manufacturers/dealers terms and conditions, in practice this means the machine will be repaired for you. If there ends up being ongoing regular problems many dealers will act out of goodwill and replace or refund, possibly with a deduction for fair usage depending on how bad it has been. Always worth remembering by far and away the highest percentage of warranty issues occur with the first 3 months, manufacturing faults show up pretty quickly, multi year warranties are usually a waste of time because parts that fail after a couple of years are usually down to wear and tear and not faulty manufacturing and so not usually covered.
Hopefully they will get this sorted ASAP and then all will be good
No, but I did notice that the oil level was very high when looking around the machine before I paid for it and took it away. My concern is that other damage may have been done by either the steering pump failure, if that's what it is, or that the oil leak/overflow is a symptom of other problems. I would prefer to reject the machine and start again with a new one.
Contact Gary Whitney (he's a member here) https://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profile/GaryWhitney416
Gary works for GGP UK Ltd, the owner of the Stiga brand.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is a much clearer and tighter piece of legislation than the previous Sale of Goods Act. The Former states that goods can be rejectected within 30 days. It is only outside 30 days that the reapir option must be tried first, but if said reapir is unsuccessful, you can still choose a full refund.
That act will not apply to you if you bought it as a ‘Business’ - ie you are not a ‘Consumer’.
I know some dealers will transact & register a sale as such to try to get around it and also ‘provide’ the longer warranty period.
So what are my rights as a business user under these circumstances. The Stiga was less than two days old with four hours on the clock.
The dealer I use has always registered my warranties as a consumer, to help me out I suppose. It is easier in my case as I only operate under my own name, so no official business name. As I work alone across all gardening disciplines, each item of machinery is not getting the kind of intensive use that a large company might generate. A mower that the Council uses might be out mowing several hours per day. I have two 'ride ons' and am strimming and hedge cutting etc. myself, so any single machine might only get used a few hours per week. Hand held gear don't have hour meters either, so amount of use can't be ascertained really, apart from condition.
It’s a real downer when something like this happens after laying out good money on new machinery.
Was this bought under a Credit agreement / card as this can give you more leverage?
As Steve says above, your relationship with your Dealer, the T&Cs on your Invoice really determines what happens next and whether it proceeds as a B2C or B2B transaction.
The issue would be between you and Dealer, not you and Stiga
I paid for it in full, no credit, What is a B2C, B2B?
Strike that, I've just googled it.
I have a client who is a Solicitor, I will ask him what he thinks.
What I really need to know is this - If I am treated a a Consumer, then I can reject it. If I am treated as Business, how is my position different to a normal consumer? This is really critical to know.
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